Wednesday 20 September 2017
After thinking today would be a short and easy look around, we found plenty to occupy our time for most of the day.
Not far to Merimbula via Pambula and our first stop was at the wharf area at Merimbula and the information centre. They were very helpful and we enjoyed a coffee overlooking the wharf and watching the whale watch boat leave the Harbour.
Headed for Long Point and enjoyed a 1km walk to the point, hoping to see some whales. Obviously they were well out to sea (saw a few splashes out near the whale...

Tuesday 19 September 2017
Made an executive decision yesterday that we would do a whole day out today and head to Mallacoota and surrounds leaving a shorter day for Wednesday before we move on again on Thursday.
This proved to be a bonus (and a relief) as we set out to visit the World War 11 Historic Bunker Museum and the area where Don's father flew in and out of in 1942 whilst flying submarine reconnaissance missions.
We had a drive around the foreshore caravan park first and then headed out to the Museum. It was a big relief as we...

Monday 18 September 2017
Not far to drive today, but we were on our way at 8.45am.
Had a break at Bega again, and got more good information from the lady at the Cheese Factory, a different volunteer to yesterday, who was also good.
Found a park for the vans in Pambula and had a good walk around the town. Found the good recommended bakery and bought some nice fresh rolls for lunch.
Back on the road and not far to Eden. Yes, we have arrived in "the Garden of Eden"! If only in name only! A nice little park and after setting up, enjoyed lunch...

April 10, 2017 – Eden, New South Wales, Australia
We had a storm last night, but today dawned beautiful. The cruise crowd is very different on this trip. I’d guess that about half of the folks are with a gonext tour group which is made up of several alumni groups from different universities. There is also a fairly large number which are with a food and wine tour group.
Despite the storm overnight, it was a great day in Eden. We took the small boat tour of Twofold Bay where we saw swimming fairy penguins, bottle nose dolphins and some...

April 8, 2017 – Eden, New South Wales, Australia
This is another town which really made us feel welcome. It seemed that all 3,043 residents came out to greet us. It was a beautiful day, and we had a great time in the town. We tendered into the wharf, and then the city provided shuttle buses to the town area which was about a mile or so away. Not only did they provide transportation to town, but they gave us a city tour with a volunteer guide to tell us about the town and what we were seeing. Their artists’ co-operative had the best arts and...

30th October - Eden
The Whale Festival has come and gone and Eden has returned to being its self….
We ventured to the Parade Yesterday morning and the parade was mainly hot rods, vintage and veteran cars with a few inflatable whales just to get the point across.
I didn’t get to see the chainsaw carving or the model boats….
Today the weather was less than exciting so we stayed indoors until we were invited out to lunch at the Great Southern…. Highlight of the day as it turned out. The little Grapefruit had the crumbed cutlets; I was feeling...

28th October – Eden
Our second day in Eden and all is well.
The drive over from Talbingo is very scenic, not to mention hilly…. We came down via Nimmitabel and Bombala where we stopped for an early lunch. Nimmitabel that is…
Nice sites here, very spacious with views of the lake, very nice park we had seen it before but never stopped here.
Yesterday we spent most of the day relaxing, bought F&C at the dwarf (an object to which small ships are berthed) and due to the wind took it back to the van for consumption.
Today the little Grapefruit...

Our last port before our cruise comes to an end we are hoping to see whales. This is the primo spot for whale watching in Australia--but the season is coming to a close. We will be touring around Twofold Bay to admire the views, hear the whaling tales and hopefully see a few (the reviews say there are often up to 60 in the bay) whales. Alas, out of the 101 whale watching cruises this team has done this season, we are the first to not have a sighting. We motor past the mussel fields, head past the wood chip mill, admire the beautiful home...

The weather turned out perfectly today. We drove along the Coast to Eden for a look around and found a very nice Van Park at Aslings Beach where we may deploy after Xmas for a week or so.... Not much has changed in Eden since we were last here except that they now have 4G mobile coverage. Called in at the Caravan place but decided that the solution should be in the hands of Jayco.
We had some really nice Fush Und Chups from the “retail outlet” on the wharf and took it up to the lookout to eat.
On the return trip we drove around Pambula and...

Hi All,
We are now back on the mainland after 6 great weeks in Tasmania which we really enjoyed. The trip over on the overnight ferry was quite rough as the ship travels at 23 knots which is quite fast for its size. Our cabin window was getting consistently wet from the bow bashing its way into the sea. We were slightly early getting in and with the van stored where it was on the ship we were about 1st off so it was still dark as we drove into Melbourne.
The wharf is basically in the middle of the city so we had to rely on our GPS in the...

Hey M & D.
Someone finally replied to my e-mail about the 'thing' Josy found.
She said it was an egg case of the giant marine gastropod (snail), Syrinx aruanus. The case is usually attached to substrate and juveniles develop individually in each capsule.
http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Find+out+about/Animals+of+Queensland/Molluscs/Gastropods/Marine+snails/Syrinx+-+Worlds+largest+snail
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrinx_aruanus
Now that's a big shell!
Syrinx - the world's largest snail

Eden is a nice little town, very friendly people there and they welcome caravanners.
I found an elderly gentleman sitting on a seat outside a shop as we parked so we had a conversation. Then I found him again, sitting outside the supermarket so we had another conversation. I learnt a lot about Eden from him.
The scenery at Eden is very pretty, loved the view from the lookout. But it's starting to look like you have to be half-goat to live in this area. We didn't find much flat ground, its all hills and dales. Even the old supermarket we...